After The Puppet Master
by Kataang36
Summary: Katara has stopped crying for a while. She hated the fact that Hamma made her a Blood-Bender. One nightmare can change everything.   Rated T just in case.


Ok, I finally finished this story. It takes place after _The Puppet Master _and in my opinion it mostly focus' on Katara. Toph only has one line in this, see as it's a Kataang one-shot. Sokka, has no lines at all! I'm cruel to them, I know, but I really like this one-shot and I hope you readers like it as well.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

Katara had stopped crying for a while. They had all been careful not to say the words BloodBender, Bloodbending, Waterbend, Waterbender, and Hamma, because she would start crying again. Aang had been comforting her, whispering things in her ear that she usually whispered in his.

Katara started crying again. Sokka and Toph sighed. Even though Katara was upset, she had to stop crying, it was bad for her health to cry to much. "Katara, please stop crying. It is bad for your health and it makes me feel like I can't do anything." Aang said. "I-I-I know, but what did I do to deserve this?" she added.

Soon, Katara was bawling again. Toph and Sokka groaned. Sokka hates it when he can't sleep, and Toph barely knew what happened so she just groaned or sighed when it seemed like the right time.

Aang knew he was defeated. Aang looked at Sokka, his expression filled with pleadingly help. Sokka shook his head, he knew he couldn't help. Katara knew that Sokka was right, and if he comforted her, it would make it worse. Toph just shrugged, and tried to go to sleep.

"Katara, I'm going to sleep. You should sleep to. Last time was horrible, and the invasion is coming soon, so we all need our sleep. I'll see you in the morning, Katara." Aang told Katara. Katara just nodded.

Soon everyone, but Katara, was asleep. Katara was tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep, but nothing was helping. She just decided to find a lake and try to Waterbend, then she shivered at the thought. She couldn't Waterbend now, not after what she discovered. Why did Hamma have to tell her about Bloodbending?

Soon, she was bawling, not knowing it.

Seconds later, everyone woke up from Katara's bawling. Aang sighed, and he knew that this was going to take a while. "Katara, you're getting rid of sleep, not just for you, for everyone. Please try to sleep." Aang begged.

Katara knew she had to stop crying, but at this point, she couldn't.

"OK, I've waited long enough. Why is Katara crying so much?" Toph asked. If it was possible, Katara cried even harder then before. Sokka just slapped his head. Aang sighed again. This was going to be hard...everyone knew that.

Aang started to whisper the comforting things that Katara mentioned to him again. "T-Thanks Aang." Katara said, while calming down slowly.

Aang decided to let Katara snuggle in his shirt, even if she was still crying, but not as hard.

Soon, Katara had stopped crying, Sokka and Toph had gone to sleep minutes ago, and Aang decided to at least to try to get Katara asleep.

"Katara, did I ever tell you why I ran away?" Aang asked, knowing very well that he has mentioned it before, but he knew that Katara loved his stories. "You have, but I like re-hearing your stories." Katara said, ready to listen to Aang's story. "Well, as you know, it began when I was teaching other Airbenders the Air Scooter. Gyatso called me and took me to the elder monks, and that's where they told me I was the Avatar. I asked why, and they said it was because of the toys I picked when I was little. I said that I only picked them because they looked fun. The monks said that I picked them because they were familiar.

"I clearly remember that after I found out I was the Avatar, my friends treated me like I was different. A stranger. I said I'm the same person, but they didn't believe me. They said I was different and I couldn't play with them anymore. After that, my only real friend was Gyatso.

"Then, the elder monks tried to separate me and Gyatso, but before that happened, I ran away, got caught in a storm, got trapped under a wave, went into the Avatar State, and froze me and Appa in time for a hundred years. Then you freed me and you were the first thing I saw in a hundred years." as Aang finished his story, he realized that Katara had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

Aang smiled, knowing very well that he should put Katara in her tent, and go back to sleep on Appa. He also knew that if he moved too much, Katara would awake and start bawling again.

So, instead of moving her to her tent, Aang moved her to Appa, who was much closer. Aang put her in Appa's saddle, then ran to her tent, grabbed a blanket, ran back to Appa and put the blanket on her. Aang smiled at the pleasant sight of her sleeping happily for once, then went to Appa's tail and went to sleep. Hopefully, Katara wouldn't wake up until morning.

"_Aang!" Katara watched in horror as Sokka's sword stabbed Aang. Hamma laughed evilly, Sokka was gaping, and Aang was in mid-scream. Toph appeared with the prisoners, 'looking' at what had happened to Aang, and Earthbended Hamma handcuffs so she couldn't Bloodbend for a while. Katara ran toward Aang, her hands ready to get any water to heal him. "Aang are you okay?" she asked, her voice quivering. "Yeah, I guess... Katara, if I don't make it, can I tell you something?" he said weakly. Katara nodded. "Ever since I set eyes on you... I've..." Aang's voice trailed off and Katara felt his pulse stop. "No! Aang, please don't leave! Please!" Katara screamed. "Katara. Come on, it's over." Sokka said, about to grab her. "No, it's not over." Katara said before Sokka grabbed her. Katara Waterbended the water out of the grass and onto Aang's stab mark. The water stopped the blood from pouring out, but Aang was still pulseless. _

Katara woke up from her horrid nightmare to find that she was on Appa's saddle, with a blanket barely on her. Katara smiled, despite that she was still terrified from her nightmare, knowing that Aang had moved her in her sleep and put a blanket on top of her to stay warm.

"Aang?" Katara whispered. She had to tell him about her nightmare. It was the only way she might get to sleep peacefully. "Yeah?" Aang whispered back. "Can I tell you something?" she asked. "Sure." he said. She asked him if they could take a walk as well. He said yes.

They started walking.

They stopped somewhere in the forest, where Katara guessed was the middle. Katara took a deep breath before she started.

"I had this horrible nightmare. I didn't react quick enough and Sokka's sword stabbed you. Sokka was gaping at what he had done. Toph appeared at the same time that she did before, but she was as speechless as Sokka was. The fist thing she did was Earthbend handcuffs on Hamma, which was good, but you were still losing blood, which was bad. I ran toward you and asked if you were okay. You said sort of and asked me if you could tell me something. I nodded, and you said that ever since you laid eyes on me, you... and then you died before you finished the sentence. Can you tell me what the ending of the sentence is, please?" as Katara finished her story, Aang was holding her, making her feel like he would never let go.

"Katara, if that happened I would have said that... I like you, more than a friend." Aang said comfortably.

In the silence that followed, Katara realized what Aang meant, that he _loved_ her.

Aang was still holding Katara when she realized this, and smiled, this time out of pure happiness.

"Thanks Aang. I needed that," she said at last. "You're welcome. Now do you want to go to sleep, knowing that everything is okay?" he asked. Katara nodded.

She knew now how Aang felt about her and started to understand why _she_ could pull Aang out of the Avatar State and nobody else could. After all these months she finally knew why.

They saw the early light from the morning starting to shine over the trees.

"I guess we should go before Sokka and Toph start worrying about us..." Aang said, sadly. "Yeah..." she agreed before she knew it.

They started walking, both knowing to take a while to save the moment before anyone ruined it. Or anything.

As they walked, Katara was thinking about how she felt about Aang. She would have done anything to protect him, but there was something more, something that was growing by the second. Something that she should have noticed before, but only just did.

Her eyes widened.

Did she love Aang? _Only time will tell._ She thought. _Only time will tell… _

**A/N: I find this story cute and nerve-racking. Don't you think? Just put your thoughts onto a review please! **


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